Add/remove features from Facebook with FFixer

Facebook has become one of the largest social networking websites with over 500 million active users as of July 2010. Since its launch in 2004, Facebook has evolved in many ways making it easier to find friends and share stories. However, not everyone likes the changes that have been applied over the years and would prefer to preserve some familiarity, even if for their eyes only. Introducing FFixer, a Greasemonkey browser plugin (created by Vaughan Chandler) that provides a variety if awesome enhancements to your Facebook. Stop being satisfied with what you are forced to accept and take control of your Facebook experience!

First of all, FFixer is a local customization plugin. It only applies changes to the appearance of Facebook on a browser for which it is installed. Therefore, do not expect to see your applied customizations on a friend’s computer if it is not installed there.

Before using FFixer you will need to have Greasemonkey extension support, which will enable usage of the FFixer plugin. Greasemonkey is available as a separate Mozilla Firefox extension download, but is supported out-of-the-box on the latest versions of Google Chrome and Opera. While Mac Safari users might require GreaseKit, Windows Safari users are better off using the Google Chrome or Firefox alternative. Microsoft Internet Explorer users can install Trixie for Greasemonkey script support or try the built-in script support of IE7Pro if already installed. Read the respective sites on obtaining Greasemonkey support (if applicable) and installing scripts.

Depending on your web browser, installing FFixer, or any Greasemonkey script for that matter, will be different. Browsers such as Firefox, Google Chrome and Opera only require an easy single click installation. Because Firefox is the only browser I ever use, I will proceed with those pertinent instructions.

Talk about easy! FFixer applies some enhancements immediately, but you can access many more customizations by going to Account > Configure FFixer.

Go to Account > Configure FFixer

Add or remove check-marks beside the items you wish to activate or deactivate respectively. There are lots of features available to be customized. Make sure to press REFRESH for changes to take effect.

FFixer customization

Two features I like to deactivate are the ‘Connect with friends’ and ‘Suggestions’ features. You may disagree, but I just do not use Facebook that much to care about networking with random strangers. Being able to hover over thumbnails and viewing full-sized images is also a great FFixer feature.

The ability to remove ads from Facebook is not something you can control through your profile or FFixer. You can try searching for another script to do this or you can simply block all ads to begin with. This is one of the nice features of Firefox. Install Adblock Plus for Firefox and apply the EasyList subscription filter. Voila! Minimal to no ads on Facebook or other websites you visit.

IMPORTANT: Many companies depend on advertising to help finance the services they provide, especially when these are free services. Do what you will, but keep this in mind.

You should have noticed that this tip was mainly geared for Firefox users. Unfortunately, I cannot provide instructions for other browsers, but you get the general idea of what needs to be done. I hope you find this article helpful. Wasting time on Facebook just became more bearable. Please share any of your Facebook customization tips in the comments!